Warming Winter
by YellowDragonMusings
Summary: Series of Merthur progression from friendship to love. Each chapter is based on a one word prompt.
1. White

Merlin woke up to a blanket of white covering the castle of Camelot. Arthur would be off gallivanting into the forest today then, off to help another village cope through the tough winter. He heaved himself up off the bed and quickly got dressed, not keeping his feet in the same place for too long for fear that they would freeze to the cold stone tile. Merlin ran over to the bucket to wash his face, but found that it had frozen overnight. Sighing, he turned and headed out of the door to the prince's chambers. Walking in, he found that Arthur's quarters were much warmer that his small box of a room, he supposed that came with being heir to the throne.

"Arthur, get up, it's snowed and the villages need your help."

Merlin moved to open the curtains and shower Arthur's bare back in frozen sunlight through the frosted pane.

"Merlin," Arthur grumbled "One day I will wake you up at dawn, insult you and make you freeze to death and see how you like it."

"The only problem with that is that _you'd_ have to be up before dawn to wake me up, sire, and we all know how hard that is for you." Merlin mocked, walking over to the shelves.

"Shut up or I'll find a new manservant."

"You wouldn't dare, I know I've only been here for a few months, but you wouldn't let me leave."

"If you keep this up we'll find out, Merlin. Now, what were you saying about the villages?" Arthur groaned as he turned over and stretched, only to wince in horrible pain as a muscle in his back twinged like it had been drawn out and twanged. Arthur let out a whimper and froze, not daring to stretch it further.

"Arthur?" Merlin turned to find Arthur still, stretched out on his bed, a look of pain on his every feature. Merlin didn't like seeing him like this, he had only known him for a few months, but he still cared deeply for the prince, even if he was a bit of an arrogant prat sometimes. "Arthur, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I don't think," Arthur stopped to wince once more as the muscle shocked his whole back, "I don't think that I can ride today, Merlin. It's my back."

"What did you do to it?" Merlin gushed, walking over to the man in the bed.

"In training yesterday, I fell, I thought it had gone, but it must have seized up during the night. I can't move Merlin, it hurts more than when I slit that gash between my fingers last May."

"Oh Arthur, okay, stay here and I'll get Gaius, he'll be able to help you, I'm sure."

Merlin ran out of the room to fetch him, when he arrived at their joint quarters, he looked around but Gaius was nowhere to be found.

"Gaius? Where are you?"

"Merlin, Is that you?" A voice called from out in the corridor. Merlin stepped out to face Gwen, "Merlin, I was supposed to tell you, I forgot, I'm sorry. Gaius said to tell you that he had to leave quickly in the night, the king summoned him to the village, he feared that they would not do well in the harsh conditions." Gwen nodded to the window covered in a thick layer of white.

"Alright, thank you Gwen, did he say when he would be back?"

"I'm afraid not Merlin, but if it's anything like the last winter we had, he may be gone for days. Sorry I couldn't be of more help Merlin, but I really should go." Gwen walked off down the corridor, carrying a bundle of freshly cleaned sheets.

"Okay, bye Gwen." Merlin wasn't really focused on what he was saying, and more on what he was going to do about Arthur. He sprinted back into his room, grabbing a spare medicine kit Gaius kept for injuries that needed to be treated quickly. Merlin ran back to Arthur's room with the pack and opened the heavy wooden door.


	2. Stay

*Hey everyone, this is chapter 2 of my series. I'm hoping for about 15-20 chapters when it's finished, and I'll update the chapters as I go along. I hope you like it, and reviews would be great if you have the time! x*

Merlin walked to Arthur's bedside and opened the kit. "Right Arthur, turn over if you can."

"I thought you were fetching Gaius?" replied Arthur, a tiny pout picking at the edges of his mouth.

"Gaius has gone to the village, your father summoned him."

"Oh." Arthur's eyes travelled down, before picking up again. "So _you're_ fixing my shoulder then?"

"Well unless you don't want me to sire? I can fetch Gwen to try if you wouldn't feel comfortable." Merlin trailed off, looking slightly worried. He hadn't meant for Arthur to see but the prince was very fond of his manservant, however clumsy he may be, and so could see through Merlin's mask that tried so hard to cover the emotions that fluttered across his face.

"Oh shut up you idiot, I don't care, just fix my back." Arthur responded somewhat pretentiously compared to how he felt about his manservant.

"Okay, turn over if you can, I need to be able to access the muscle as easily as possible." Merlin said.

Arthur moved to turn but the pain was unbearable. He winced again in pain, and a groan escaped his lips. Merlin moved in, swooping down; One hand on Arthur's chest and the other on his waist.

"Okay Arthur, this might hurt a little." whispered Merlin softly. With Arthur half-facing him, he slowly pulled at Arthur's waist to turn him over. Arthur gasped in pain, closing his eyes.

"I'm sorry" Arthur could hardly hear Merlin's apology, just a breath loud. With Arthur successfully on his front, Merlin grabbed some pillows for Arthur to rest his head on. Opening the kit, Merlin pulled out a pot of cream labelled "For backs," In Gaius' shaky handwriting. He scraped some out, rubbing it between his fingers; it coloured his fingers a little, but he didn't really care.

Rubbing it between his palms to warm it, Merlin knelt on the side of the bed, next to the prince. "Sorry Arthur, this might sting or burn a little bit, but it should feel fine in a couple of hours." He put his hand down on Arthur's tanned back. Massaging the muscle, Merlin rubbed the cream into the salty skin, leaving it greasy and shining.

"I don't know what you're talking about Merlin, it doesn't hurt at all!" Arthur called as Merlin washed his hands of the cream.  
"Oh just you wait Arthur." Merlin grumbled under his breath. He dried his hands and went to sit back next to Arthur. With Arthur still lying on his front, Merlin perched on the side of the huge bed, looking straight ahead and trying not to laugh.

"Merlin, what on earth are you finding so funny?" Came Arthur's voice, closer than Merlin had been expecting; turning around, Merlin found Arthur's face a few inches from his hip.

"Just a few more seconds sire, just a few more seconds."

Arthur's face was puzzled, but he broke the silence with a laugh; "If you say so."

Merlin stared to count; when he reached seventeen he heard a gasp from behind him, then a groan of pain. Turning again, Merlin lowered himself to be kneeling on the floor, his face parallel with Arthur's on the bed; Arthur's eyes were wide and hurt.

"It'll burn your back Arthur, but that helps the muscle relax, okay? I'll stay here with you." Merlin whispered softly, hating himself for doing this to Arthur; to see his friend in this much pain was unbearable. Arthur clutched the pillow, clenching his fists into it, twisting it around. He couldn't let merlin see him like this, Merlin knew him as the brave, strong knight, not this weakling who was hurt by _back cream. _He closed his eyes so he didn't have to look at Merlin, who was full of such concern for Arthur it made his heart ache a little.

"Why don't you try sleeping Arthur? When you wake up it'll nearly be over."

"Kay Merlin," Arthur said in a sleepy voice "but, stay with me please?"

"Of course, after all, there's nothing else to do is there?" answered Merlin with a grin creeping across his face. A few minutes later, Arthur was fast asleep; Merlin stood up from beside the bed and moved to take the kit back to his quarters when he heard a small whine from behind him. Turning around, Merlin saw Arthur's face scrunched up in hurt; he couldn't leave him like this, even just to put the cream back.

Merlin sat on the other side of Arthur, propping himself up against the headboard; It was much warmer than his small bed. Making himself comfortable he focused back on Arthur. He had turned his head around in his sleep so he was facing his manservant; his face still a mask of pain. Assuming it was his back causing him the pain; Merlin placed a soft hand on the delicate muscle. Arthur's face softened immediately, any trace of pain vanishing.

They stayed that way for a long time, Arthur asleep and Merlin watching his friend's back rising and falling. When it came to the time to wake Arthur up, Merlin felt strange. He didn't want to wake his friend up, he enjoyed the physical contact between the two of them; and breaking apart almost seemed like it might hurt a little; like they were connected. Merlin sighed, he knew what he had to do; withdrawing his hand from his back, he pulled his boots back on and stood up, walking to the other side of the bed.

"Arthur," he whispered, shaking his side gently, "Arthur, you need to get up or you won't be able to sleep tonight." Arthur's eyes opened, locking onto Merlin's.

"You stayed the whole time?" asked Arthur

"Of course I did, now get up," Merlin's tone changed from gentle to playful as he commanded his friend; standing up and heading to the door.

"Alright alright, leave me alone to get changed will you?" Arthur replied from his large bed.

"Sure, I'll see you by the stables in a bit." Merlin called over his shoulder as he left the room; leaving Arthur to get changed. Arthur sat up, stretching to find that the pain in his back was nearly gone, now just a dull ache. He was confused; Merlin had stayed with him for the whole time with no one to talk to. He thought he was just saying that to get him to go to sleep, he didn't think that he'd actually do it. He remembered as he pulled his boots on, waking up, in that half state of being awake and dreaming, he was sure he'd felt a hand on his back; a small hand, with long thing fingers, but soft and not at all sharp.

Merlin.

Arthur's heart soared at recognising this, Merlin had not only stayed, he had soothed the pain in Arthur's back, and in his heart. As he walked down to the stables to meet his manservant, he chuckled, shocked that he had just thought about hurting his back again; this time on purpose.


End file.
